Softball has provided Stephanie Peace a state-championship ring and a scholarship to Wisconsin, but there are just some things the sport could never offer the New Braunfels Canyon shortstop.

Such as the time she tossed a strikeout on the baseball diamond when she was 8.

“I made a boy cry!” Peace said with a devilish grin. “He swung and missed bad.

“But he was sick that week, if you ask his dad.”

Now, Peace is part of a star-studded Canyon squad that has made a habit of relegating opponents to such a grief-stricken state.

Canyon (34-3), the defending Class 4A state champion, will play Magnolia (32-12) in the state semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday at McCombs Field in Austin.

Leading the way for the Cougarettes have been Peace and a trio of other Division I-bound players: senior catcher Mandy Ogle, a Texas signee; junior left-handed ace Sara Mireles, who is committed to Texas A&M; and senior third baseman Becca Wall, who plans to walk on at Mississippi.

While the Cougarettes' talented core is down to its final game or two, the players' run together didn't necessarily have to end so soon.

Not if some brazen college scout had stepped in months ago and taken Ogle's rather unconventional, albeit tongue-in-cheek, advice.

“It'd have been cool if a school was just like, ‘I want that team. Bring 'em here,'” Ogle said.

It might not have been a bad strategy considering their success at Canyon.

With Mireles mowing down batters and the likes of Peace, Ogle and Wall taking care of the rest, the Cougarettes have been virtually unbeatable over the past two seasons. They are 72-6 during the stretch, including a whopping 19-1 mark in the postseason.

They went 10-0 during last year's state-title-winning playoff run, with a combined margin of victory of 82-12.

With seven of their starting fielders back from last season, including six seniors, the Cougarettes have posted nearly identical numbers this postseason. They are 9-1 and have outscored teams 83-12 in victories.

Peace said the thought of teaming up in college and trying to do it all over again was something the girls used to joke about.

“Carry on our tradition here and stay together — that would be ideal,” Peace said. “But in the end, our lives carry us different ways. You've got to do what's best for you.”

It's a fact that has created an interesting dynamic between at least two of the prized players.

With the A&M-bound Mireles around, the UT water bottle sitting atop a ledge in the Cougarettes' dugout makes for a target so big that it might as well be wearing Ogle's catcher's mitt.

“Take that away; it's ugly!” Mireles tells Ogle from time to time.

“We've made jokes that we're going to be enemies in the future,” Mireles added, “but we're really just like best friends.”

Which might be what makes this group so special.

Some teams with such individual talent are perpetually limited to being nothing more than a collection of talented individuals. Not so for the Cougarettes, who have met every bit of their potential over the past two seasons.

“It's kind of sad, actually, to know that this is my last week with this group of seniors,” coach Kevin Randle said. “I'm so happy for them and the stuff they've accomplished.”

For everything softball already has given the Cougarettes, the game might still have one final thing to offer this weekend.

“We really are blessed,” Peace said. “That's the best word for it. We're fortunate to have each other.”